THE LARGE GUN MONITORS OF THE ROYAL NAVY

摘要

Monitors, especially the early ones, were little more than self-propelled floating 'howitzer' platforms; not particularly seaworthy, slow, of very shallow draught and freeboard, a vessel designed specifically for coastal bombardment over a range of 10-20 miles from shallow water, ideally in a river or calm estuary.rnBut what makes the 'large gun' monitors of World War 1 unique is the sheer size of gun they carried. A Royal Navy monitor from 95 years ago carries the maybe dubious distinction of having fired, from its single 18in gun, the largest shell ever fired at sea, anywhere in the world, even to this day, and over the longest range ever recorded. But more on these details later.